To Face the Sun
by Alexa Piper
Summary: He realised that he loved her only moments before she faded away. His death, he realised, was even more unfair than his life had been... HinataxYui, YuzuruxKanade if you squint. Set at the end of episode ten.


"Are you okay with that?"

The soft-spoken words cut through Hinata's jumbled thoughts, bringing agonising realisation. Tearing cyan eyes away from the baseball bat and helmet lying at his feet, the teen fixed his gaze on the golden strip of light lingering across the horizon. The soft rays of the setting sun made his eyes sting, and the young man was immediately thankful that he would have an excuse should anyone notice the tears that lurked in their corners. "Of course," he responded as lightly as he could, tossing the words over his shoulder to the orange-haired youth that stood behind him.

In the pause that followed, Hinata felt his world begin to crumble. The only way he held the broken pieces of his heart together was that one promise he had made as the dying light danced through pink hair – that he would find her, and marry her. The thought brought a tiny smile to his lips.

Yuzuru's next question caught the grieving soul off-guard. "What are you going to do now?"

Hinata swallowed, struggling to form his response with a tongue that felt too heavy to be capable of speech. Picturing her sweet smile calmed him somewhat, and he found himself able to answer. "I'll help you out till the end. There are still lots of our friends who need help."

The words from behind him were light with relief, yet filled with understanding. "I see." Minutes trickled by in silence, the pair of teens standing motionless until Yuzuru spoke again. "Do you want to go get dinner? I've got a couple of meal tickets here – how about I shout you?"

Hinata sighed before turning to face his friend, keeping a smile fixed on his face. His cloudless sky eyes were dark and knowing. "You go ahead, and use those tickets to treat Angel. I've already eaten." The lie slipped smoothly from his tongue, and the boy knew that he probably wouldn't eat again until this entire business was over.

Otonashi's expression betrayed his concern, but he merely squeezed Hinata's shoulder before heading in the direction of the school building, no doubt making a beeline for the cafeteria.

Hinata turned and trudged towards the dormitories, his mind replaying those final moments over and over again. He dwelt on the shape of her chin, the way her right cheek dimpled when she smiled, the soft, worn look of her eyelashes. Before he knew it, Hinata Hideki stood in front of the door to the room that he shared with Ōyama. Placing his hand against the handle, he paused to take a shuddering breath before pushing it open and stepping over the threshold.

A square of paper sat on the otherwise immaculate study desk, handwritten by the overwhelmingly plain and yet strangely endearing roommate.

_Sorry that I missed you – I've gone to help Yuri with some sort of new mission. No doubt we'll meet up at dinner!  
-Ōyama_

Hinata let out a sigh of relief, locking the door behind him before slumping against its smooth wooden surface. His grasp slipped, and the pieces of his shattered heart lay on the floor before him, impossible to piece back together. The teen fisted trembling fingers in his bright blue hair. He felt his control give way as the first tears trickled down his cheeks. Sliding to the floor, Hinata curled up, rocking on the balls of his feet as tears sheeted down his face. Sobs began to tear from his chest, and the boy wrapped wiry arms around himself in an effort to prevent any more of him from tearing apart. Throwing his head back, he howled at the ceiling like a wounded animal, wrenching cries making it feel like his lungs were going to collapse.

Rocking forwards, Hinata pressed himself to the floor, his brow touching the wooden boards. Tears dripped from the end of his nose, his chin, his eyelashes. Fingers dug painfully into his ribcage. Each breath was dragged in and forced back out, accompanied by the uncontrollable sounds of grief.

It was only in the moment when he had answered her desperate plea. Only as he cried a promise through the dusk, had he realised how deeply he loved her. "I'll marry you," he whispered, lips pressed against the floor, once again tasting the words that he had called across the gloaming. "No matter what, I'll marry you." The promise dissolved into violent, painful sounds that tore from somewhere deep in his chest. Hinata supposed that this was the echo of the space that his broken heart had left empty.

"God," he choked, "I don't even know if you exist. I know I died for selfish reasons, but even so… I'm not a selfish person. Can you give me this one indulgence?" The floor was wet where his forehead pressed against it, the taste of salt and misery coating his lips. "God… I-if you're actually listening… If you're th-there… Please…

"Don't put her in a wheelchair again. It's n-not fair. A pretty girl like Yui, so f-full of life, shouldn't be paralysed. Give her everything she ever wanted, and put me in the chair instead!" His voice trembled. "P-please, put me in the chair instead. Paralyse _me_, not her. Let her join a band, and wrestle, a-and play soccer. A-and one day, as she plays baseball, l-let her hit the ball through my window. T-that's how we'll meet."

A whisper. "Yes… that's how we'll meet. Please, God. I-I promise to help the others find peace. Just give me this one request, and I'll never have cause to complain."

Ōyama vowed to never mention finding Hinata asleep on the floor, face still wet and eyes swollen and red. He simply lifted the taller boy onto the nearest bed, tucking a blanket around him before leaving silently. He paused in the corridor, locking the door and deciding to find Noda and ask if the other boy wouldn't mind having a roommate for one night.

**Where did this just come from?!**

**Ehehehe… NaNoWriMo break?**

**As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read my drivel!**


End file.
